April 1, 2024
A sinister sanatorium with a history of escapes and deaths is the centerpiece of this eerie splice of psychological and supernatural horror from Panatier (The Phlebotomist). Using the alias Charlotte Turner, Morgan Bright voluntarily commits herself to the Hollyhock House, an asylum in Hay Springs, Neb., to undergo a short stint of treatment for purported “domestic psychosis.” Really, Morgan is seeking to uncover the undisclosed facts behind her sister Hadleigh’s death after she fled from Hollyhock two and a half years earlier. To Morgan’s dismay, the character of “Charlotte” soon takes over and begins cooperating complacently with the asylum’s bizarre treatment regimens—as revealed in postcommitment interviews conducted between Morgan and police and medical authorities and laced throughout the text. These transcripts suggest Morgan harbors two strong personalities in conflict with one another and call into question how much about Morgan’s identity the reader can trust. Though the description of Hollyhock’s strange therapies becomes repetitive in spots, Panatier conjures an unsettling mood of suspicion and disbelief from his depiction of the asylum’s cultish caregivers and their oddly ritualized behavior. Fans of paranoid thrillers like Catriona Ward’s Last House on Needless Street will devour this.
September 1, 2024
Desperate to find answers after her sister died while fleeing Hollyhock Asylum, a shadowy psychiatric institution, Morgan Bright hatches a plan to go undercover as a patient. Assuming the identity of a patient named Charlotte, Morgan enters a world of torturous treatments and unsettling secrets. Director Edevane's "cures" are barbaric, with electroshock therapy and bizarre contraptions used to control the women who have been committed. As the asylum's true purpose unfolds, the line between Morgan and Charlotte begins to blur so that Morgan no longer knows her true self. The narrative delves into sensitive topics like forced pregnancy, adding a disturbing layer to the horror. Erin Walker's narration is the perfect addition to this already chilling novel, capturing the characters' palpable fear and increasing instability while enhancing the story's deeply unsettling atmosphere. VERDICT A powerful blend of psychological horror and social commentary, this will have listeners catching their breath in fear. Fans of Ana Reyes's The House in the Pines or Jennifer Cody Epstein's The Madwomen of Paris won't want to miss Panatier's (The Phlebotomist) hair-raising latest.--Allia Nisa
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